Does anyone remember when twitter had #musicmonday? Me neither.

We first wrote about Australian act San Cisco last year, and then they released an EP earlier for which Halley did a song of the day for. Well, we are back again! San Cisco’s EP Awkward has been steadily in my rotation this year. It’s one of those sneaky rotation events that you don’t necessarily expect but are glad it turned out that way. I’ve been trying to figure out why I like the the EP so much and I’ve finally realized it. San Cisco sounds like a smorgasbord of the bands Ive liked for the past decade. There are similarities rangin from acts like Arctic monkeys to a host of indie pop darlings that are out today.

Take the track Rocket Ship for example, it starts out with a Vampire Weekend (lets face it, we all liked them at one point or another) west undies tinge before ascending to a frenetic group chant sing along chorus that stays in your head after the track is long over. It’s a somewhat familiar sounding yet surprisingly original sound. Check it out

Once in a while, we all need to take a trip to Pyschic City

For Torontonians, that opportunity comes on February 23rd at the Wrongbar.

Of course, I’m talking about Portland band Yacht, who will once again bring their super awesome live act to Toronto once again. It’ll be their first show here since they released their third record Shangri-La (second if you only count what’s on DFA). They’ll be ready to go, and certainly ready to roll and we would like you to be there.

We have a pair of tickets to give away. To enter for a chance to enter, do one of the following

1) Retweet this post
2) Email panic@panicmanual.com with the subject: “I’d like to go to the Psychic City” with your name in the body.
3) Send us a picture of you on a yacht, holding a yacht record and listening to yacht rock.

My sister and I are only collectively half the writer of our esteemed and fearless leader Ricky, so we decided in lieu of a top ten list, we would assemble a list of the top 5 ways to waste 5 minutes on youtube. And now – the internetz:

1) JbDubs – I hate my job. What do you get when you combine single ladies + camp + the Boston Ballet? For one thing you get the most impressive display of impeccable male legs in red high heels we’ve ever seen.

2) My Drunk Kitchen. Who doesn’t love eating tacos with their mouths? Watch this and you might just jump on the harto-sexual
bandwagon.

3) Fast Food Folk Song. And running with the mexican food theme:

4) Karmin – Look at Me Now. She’s got the eyes of a Disney princess, a fiance better-looking then any Prince Charming, and lightning fast lips. The girl is the complete package.

5) Sh*t nobody says. Touch my screen – seriously, I want you to.

What’s that? This post comes right on the heels of Halley’s post about
getting off youtube and experiencing another screen? Why yes it does!
We have nothing to say for ourselves. Except thanks for reading.

Chicago – What better way to spice up the middle of a blah week than skip your night class and go to a concert? Who needs education anyway right? Wednesday was the eve of my dear friend’s 30th birthday. She has this whole long list of things that she’s not allowed to do after she turns 30 (eat PB&J, play drinking games, take shots for her age, wear glitter makeup, pretty much everything that makes life worth living) so I bought her some Wonderbread, some Smuckers, and some Jif and brought her to the House of Blues for a night out with Jukebox the Ghost and Jack’s Mannequin.

We got to the venue about halfway through the opener, Jukebox the Ghost’s, set and the place was already packed. Before I get to the music though I have to give a shout out to the venue – this was my first time in a House of Blues – I’ve always looked down on it because it’s part of a chain. I figured it would be soul-sucking money maker with no character – not true at all! This place actually ranks as one of my favorite concert venues in Chicago now. Decorated with pop top art and weird statues and masks on the walls – I’m usually one to stake out a spot next to the stage and move neither for hell nor high water nor drunken moshers for the subsequent three hours, but I couldn’t help but roam the place during the breaks between sets. The two or three full bars scattered around didn’t hurt either.

My sister and I like to call Jukebox the hardest working hipsters on the circuit. These guys just tour relentlessly, and every time I go see them I’m waiting for one of them to just pass out mid-set – I always think I should pack a sandwich from them just in case. They made it through their set with energy to spare though – playing say when, schizophrenia and good day, along with a medley of cover songs.

There’s nothing to dislike about Jukebox’s music: it’s upbeat, it’s catchy, it’s imaginative, and everyone who I’ve forced to try it out (which is many) feels an instant connection to what the band’s trying to get across – take a listen, and I promise you won’t regret it.

The main act, Jack’s Mannequin, was the second pleasant surprise of the night. I’ve never really given much thought to Jack’s Mannequin – I knew their one song, Dark Blue, and wasn’t really blown away by it, but I was absolutely blown away by their performance. Let’s start with the set up for the stage – a disco ball, Ikea lamps and a baby grand piano. There are too many bands out there who use totally overstimulating and gratuitous props for their sets that just take away from their music, but this set up was perfect: baby grand – classy, Ikea lamps – intriguing, disco ball – fun. Yes, yes and yes. The lead singer of the band, Andrew McMahon, absolutely dominated the stage in his white suit and sweet facial hair (I kept on hearing Ke$ha in my head throughout the night “I like your beard”.) He’s an excellent vocalist and although he didn’t do a lot of dancing (my favorite part of concerts is watching the band rock out) his energy was infectious and he absolutely had the crowd going. While I’m not sure that I’ll be listening to Jack’s Mannequin’s albums nonstop now (I tried them when I got home and somehow they just didn’t quite translate as well as they did live) I certainly enjoyed them in person. Overall an excellent way to spend a Wednesday.

It’s often said that the perfect remedy for a brisk and dull Tuesday night is a dance party. Who often says this? I don’t know. People way cooler than I am. Last Tuesday was unbearably cold and considerably dull, so I decided to heed to the advice of the cool and attend a dance party. A four piece act who recently released their forth album Ventriloquizzing, Brighton band Fuijiya and Miyagi would be our sheppards for the evening.

Dirty bass lines pared with David Best’s breathy Robert Del Naja-ish voice are the driving forces behind Fujiya and Miyagi’s music and the band displayed them prominently in the opening half of the set, which featured a few of their hits Knickerbocker and Uh. It didn’t take long before the front of the stage was turned into a dance floor with eager young legs ready to get groove dance on to the increasingly energetic set. The band was content to let their music do the speaking, saying nary a word as they moved about the stage, which was adorned with a projector backdrop. The eighty minute set spanned the group’s discography and was basically one smooth groovy ride for the entire duration. There was beats, there was synth and then there was David Best’s voice, which I guess if he wasn’t in a band, he could probably have made a lot of money doing voice-overs or something. While you can accuse Fujiya and Miyagi of remaining in their comfort zone musically for much of their careers, the sweaty and enthusiastic crowd at the end of the show suggests you can’t argue with their results.

Indie Kid vs Dance Kid also went to the show. He also decided he liked to eat oysters.

While its been a good few years since the French Valerie electro disco scene threatened (and failed) to take over the indie music world, the memories of that moment has remained in the minds of many. It’s certainly remained in Nicolas Winding Refn’s mind as the director chose to soundtrack his movie Drive with a strong sampling of this genre of music.

One of the tracks from that movie was the opening of the movie, where the Kavinsky track Nightcall is featured prominently as Ryan Gosling drives his car around night time LA. Given French electros tendency to sound like it should be played after midnight, the combination of this track, the neon retro style lettering of the opening credits and the stunning night time cinematography (LA at night is really dramatic for some reason) makes this a memorable movie moment in a rather memorable movie.

With the Oscar announcements this week, Halley decided to go with a movie themed top 10!

1) You can’t go to concerts every night. I mean, 24/7 concert-going is, in theory, the ideal. But sometimes there’s just not a good band playing when you need an evening activity. So why not switch stage for screen every once in a while?

2) Cool kids don’t see top ten blockbusters. It’s against every grain in the ‘under-the-radar-super-hipster’ gene code.

3) This new-fangled 3-D technology. OK, so I was not sold on the 3-D attraction at first, mainly because I saw Lion King in 3-D and was not impressed by the slightly rippling grass Disney added to its classic 2-D animation. BUT, I recently saw Pina and was absolutely floored by the 3-D enhancement. When done right and placed in artful/artsy films, 3-D can rock your world.

4) Popcorn and soft pretzels – yum!

5) The possibility of free passes. If you follow enough local papers/film blogs/production companies, etc. you will, sooner or later, be offered a free pass to one of these hidden gems. You might briefly envy those ‘main-streamers’ lined up to see the latest big box office hit, but real talk real time: they’re $15 in the hole. Think of that $15 ‘small soda’ you can buy instead!

6) You could learn something. Movies don’t have to be two hours of mindless entertainment. There are some great and informative small films out there right now focusing on issues from aboriginal rights to depression to dance. Try Oka, Melancholia, and/or the afore-mentioned Pina.

7) You can save trees. Instead of buying into the whole ‘book’ idea, you can ‘see’ your literature! Try Norwegian Wood, for example, the cinematic version of acclaimed Japanese author Haruki Marukami’s novel of the same name. Bonus points if you can dupe actual readers into thinking you perused the 300-page tome yourself.

8) Previews. I love previews. Let’s be real: trailers are the best part of any film anyway, so what’s better than a string of them?

9) Giving Youtube a rest. Did you know that Youtube receives 4 BILLION visits per day? People, give it a rest. Turn off your computer. Leave your home. Find a new screen.

10) You can discover new music! After seeing Pina, I can’t get Juna Miyake’s “The Here and After” out of my head… and I don’t want it to leave any time soon.

Toronto – Honestly, this was a bit of a crazy night.  I started off the evening at the Monster Jam monster truck show, followed that with Anamanaguchi‘s set at Wrongbar, and then capped off the night with a trip to the Bovine.  That’s at least one too many things for one evening, yet i did it anyways.  Consider it conditioning for all the club hopping I’ll be doing in a couple months’ time for SXSW and CMW.  Except without the monster trucks.  Really, SXSW should have monster trucks though.  I mean, it is in Texas after all.  Everything’s better with monster trucks, right?

I’ve got to say, Monster Jam is a bit of a weird scene.  It’s mostly made up of just watching these crazy machines race each other around a track in order to ”qualify.”  What exactly are they qualifying for?  I don’t quite know.  Finally, after a bunch of these races and a couple digressions into ATVs and Motocross bikes, the audience finally gets what it came for - trucks smashing shit.  So I guess that was satisfying.  Yeah!   

After getting all amped up from that whole scene, I was ready for Anamanaguchi’s set of energetic chiptune rock.  In a weird way, they weren’t all that far removed from the world of monster trucking.  I mean, videogames and trucks smashing stuff are both things that might appeal to one’s inner teenage boy … or outer teenage boy if one still happens to be a teenager. 

For the uninitiated, Anamanaguchi make use of a hacked NES to create much of their music.  Live, they play in a traditional rock setup playing along with all the Nintendo-ish sounds.  As I said, it’s fun and energetic and since they’re an instrumental act, they rely on a few gimmicks to make the show a bit more interesting.  The band handed out glowsticks to the crowd as we were entertained by weird and wacky series of images projected onto a screen behind them.  Images like furbies and kittens and weirdly pixelated oddities combined with ’80s level AV tricks that sort of reminded me of the Gerry Todd Sketches from SCTV.  It was somewhat psychedelic in it’s own way.  Oh, and the band worked in a Britney Spears cover early in their set.  See?  Fun.

Today, is Robbie Burns Day. It is celebrated by Scottish and Anglophiles all around the world. Now I don’t really know why he’s so special that everyone celebrates his birthday but any excuse to gather around a bar and drink scotch is good for me, although I don’t think many Scottish people really need an excuse.

For a country that isn’t very large, it has done very well for itself in establishing themselves into our everyday culture. So without further delay, here is our tribute to Scotland, in images.

The Scotch Egg – I had it for the first time in 2010 and it was delicious.

Scotland also has the finest drinks. Here are my favorites

I remember the first time I had Oban, my friend Nick brought it over from Edmonton as a gift. I didn’t know it was an 80$ bottle of Scotch and just drank that thing like it was water. Now I know better.

What a movie (and soundtrack)

This movie was pretty good, one of the last good ones Mel Gibson made before he went crazy.

Scotland has pretty good bands. Some of my favorites.

Jesus and Mary Chain are so good Sophia Coppella wrote an entire movie just so she can use their songs.

Primal Scream’s classic Screamdelica. Iconic album cover and iconic album.

These twins set the bar a bit too high for any man pursuing a women.

Another staple

Finally, this guy isn’t even Scottish but like them so much he still walks around like this to this day.

Happy Robbie Burns Day!

Toronto – Before I begin with the review proper, allow me to digress right away and launch into a story about the last time I saw Herman Dune.  It was in Paris, so of course the band was speaking French (because, you know, they are French) and it was a good show, of course, but the reason I’m telling this story right now is to let you all know that playing the role of confused foreigner can work wonders for you sometimes.  Having shown up at the show late, I approached the ticket vendor guy and, in my best French, asked to buy a ticket.  He told me the show was almost over, and looking confused (I had checked when doors opened and estimated set times based on the number of bands playing), I motioned to the door and said, “Est-ce que Je …” and dude just waved me in.  Little did he know the band had just started and I saved myself a whole pile of euros that night. What does this have to do with the band’s set this past Thursday at The Horseshoe?  Well, nothing of course.  But for all of you looking to see a show in a foreign country I suppose it’s worth a shot to try this.  So in a way, it’s a public service I’m providing.  Still not as cool as Ricky’s story about crashing a high school dance in Istanbul though, but whatever. 

What’s that you say?  Oh right, the show at The Horseshoe. The band’s somewhat classicist take on folk rock always goes down well.  Frontman David-Ivar Herman Dune is not only a great songwriter (highlights included “In The Long Long Run” and “I Hear Strange Moosic”) but seems like a nice guy as well.  “I’m liking this place, it’s pretty nice,” he said in response to the enthusiastic crowd.  Also enthusiastic was Julie Doiron, who joined the band onstage for a couple of songs, including a cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Threw It All Away.”  Julie was so into it that she seemingly made a request onstage just so she could sing along with it.  Of course they obliged.  It’s always nice to see performers truly enjoying themselves onstage.  It shows that they’re not just going through the motions.

And so, while I have no story as thrilling (well, thrilling to me, at least) as bluffing my way in to go along with this show, it was still a solid performance from a band at the top of their game.  Plus, any band who can change a string onstage and not have it stop the show dead in it’s tracks deserves some recognition.  So bravo, Herman Dune.  You guys are alright.